Bicone Switches
By Craig Brougher
Darrell Clarke mentioned a bicone switch in an Aeolian, which would probably date that piano from the late twenties through the thirties (?) The only bi-cone switches I have ever taken apart to fix were all of the Ampico variety, and in each case, the little rolling spring either broke or became distorted and was no longer tight enough to work. If I could have fixed them with a thin fiber washer, I would have said "Gee, this isn't half bad." On the other hand, if you ever open your switch back up and discover a broken spring, you will then say, "Craig may possibly have a point. I'll think about it some more."
The bottom line of my opinion is this: If you have to repair eroded or broken contacts in an old switch, that is understandable-- electrical wear and tear. But in each case, we both proved the point I made about bi-cone switches-- sooner or later, for whatever reason, they don't go "snap" in the dark anymore! Let's just let bi-cones be bi-cones and whatever will be will be.
Craig B.
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(Message sent Tue 20 Aug 1996, 13:15:12 GMT, from time zone GMT.) |
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